CPA Marketing - How to Market Accounting Services

The first
thing an accountant needs to do in developing a CPA marketing plan is
target potential clients. To accomplish this, the first thing you
will need to do is establish criteria to determine who is a good client
for your firm. The criteria may include:

The next
step in accounting services marketing will be to purchase a list of
businesses in your community which meet the criteria. Once you have
the list and have targeted your potential clients, the next question to
ask yourself these questions: "Do I know how to market accounting
services effectively", “Which businesses are currently frustrated with
their accountants and would like to change accountants if only they
could find a quality CPA firm?” Also ask yourself, “How are they going
to know about you?”

Under
traditional CPA marketing development techniques the CPA would go
to Chamber of Commerce meetings or community activities and hope someone
would refer them. Obviously, you can see what an extended period of time
it would take to develop a practice using such traditional methods. An
accountant could only sit, wait, and hope that someone they know is
familiar with someone who is looking for a new accountant and can be
referred. Other accounting services marketing programsare
teaching accountants to hard sell business accounting services or
sell them an appointment. The problem with hard selling accounting
services is it greatly diminishes a potential client’s view toward the
quality and professionalism of your firm. To illustrate, if you surveyed
5,000 businesses, conservatively you would find that 250 businesses are
currently unhappy with their accounting situation and would like to
change accountants if only they could find a quality CPA firm. If your
firm implements a hard selling, traditional telemarketing approach and
solicits those businesses, they will likely not proceed with your firm
based upon its diminished view of the quality or professionalism of your
firm.

Furthermore,
if you implement a telemarketing program that solicits businesses by
asking them to compare the cost of your services to their existing
services, what quality of client would you obtain? Most likely you would
acquire a client who is only concerned about your fees without regard to
the quality of your service. This is why Frank believes you will not
acquire a high-quality client through hard selling accounting
services.

Frank has
developed a "how to market accounting services" approach which involves
no selling. It is based on the principle that there are a number of
businesses in your community which are dissatisfied with their current
accountant and would like to change accountants if only they could find
one. After ten years of starting and developing five accounting and tax
practices, Frank developed a CPA marketing strategy that will identify
those businesses in need of changing accountants and motivate them to
want to meet you. Notice Frank’s program does not require that you
solicit every business in your community. Instead, his program accepts
the fact that if a business is currently happy with their CPA, they’re
happy, and you will only diminish the professional appearance of your
firm by attempting to sever that relationship. His program focuses on
identifying businesses which have a desire to change accountants. Once
identified, the business will be motivated to meet or speak with you,
giving you the opportunity to demonstrate your quality and expertise.
Once you meet with a prospective client, you will present them with a
CPA practice managementprogram which emphasizes quality and
service. In ten years of starting and developing five practices, Frank
has learned what services businesses are looking for from a CPA.
Accordingly, he has developed a management program for accountants which
provides those services and is different from the way traditional CPA
firms have managed their practices. This new form of accounting
practice management is more in line with the needs of businesses and
is focused on providing a higher level of technical expertise and a
higher level of service. When you implement this program, you will know
how to market CPA services and:

1. Identify
businesses in your community that want or need to change accountants.

2. Place them
in a position where they will be interested in meeting or speaking with
you, much like a referral.

3. Once they
meet with you, present them a practice management program which is more
in line with their needs, emphasizing a higher level of service and
expertise, creating a greater perception of value.

4. This will
result in your obtaining a new, high-quality client who wants you to be
his/her accountant because he/she trust and value your service. Your new
client will want your service, not because of the cost of your fees, but
because of the quality of your service and expertise.

When Frank
Salman began working with accountants in 1994, among the first things he
noticed were the many other accounting services marketing programs
available to CPAs. Many of the accountants Frank worked with were
graduates of those other programs. He realized the CPA marketing
approach and methods he used to develop his last three practices were
dramatically different than those of other marketing programs. Upon
evaluation, Frank realized everything he learned about how to market
accounting services was from his own experience. It was from starting,
owning, and managing five CPA firms and having started each one from
scratch.

It is Frank’s
experience that in this industry a client and a CPA have a unique
relationship. A CPA provides a client with the personal service of
taking care of a client’s finances and taxes. Accordingly, a quality
client uses a particular CPA because he trusts and believes in that CPA
and values him/her individually for the service he/she provides. Because
of this, Frank does not believe you can market and sell accounting
services like a commodity or product. He disagrees with any CPA
marketing program that teaches hard selling. In fact, the Business
Practice Development Program Frank uses involves no direct selling. His
unique approach on how to market accounting services is based
upon honesty and professionalism while providing a client with a higher
level of service and technical expertise.

In comparing
Frank’s accounting services marketing program with other marketing
programs, Frank’s program goes much further. In essence, Frank is giving
you the exact same program he used to build three practices three years
in a row, including his most recent practice which achieved $150,000 in
billings in ten months. He will give you complete, specific step-by-step
instructions, including all of the materials, so all you do is follow
the instructions for implementing the program for your own benefit.

In addition, Frank will personally provide you with
unlimited support on an individual basis for as long as you need at no
additional cost to assure you the program will be implemented properly.